Medherant, a University of Warwick spin-out developing a novel transdermal drug delivery patch technology, has completed a funding round worth £1.5 million, including a direct investment of £650,000 from Mercia Technologies.

Medherant’s first-in-class drug delivery platform, known as the TEPI Patch, is designed to address many of the failings of previous transdermal drug delivery patches. The benefits of TEPI Patch include increased drug loading capabilities and a significantly expanded library of drugs available for patch delivery, potentially including drugs that had previously failed clinical trials because of their unsuitability for oral administration.

Medherant will use the new funding to advance pre-clinical studies of the TEPI Patch, in preparation for moving into clinical studies in 2017.

The technology is initially being developed for use with pain relief drugs ibuprofen and methyl salicylate, delivering a controlled dose for a period as long as 24 hours, a feature lacking in current gel and cream-based topical delivery methods. Medherant is currently seeking partners with which to develop transdermal delivery patches for a wide variety of further therapeutic applications.

Nigel Davis, CEO of Medherant, said: “We are delighted to continue our excellent relationship with Mercia and also to secure funding from new investors. The process has been smooth, enabling us to continue to focus on technology development. These funds enable us to move ahead rapidly with preclinical studies for our lead TEPI Patch programmes so that we can be ready for testing in the clinic in 2017.”

Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Technologies, commented: “We are delighted to transition Medherant into a direct investment. Owing to our close relationships with our university partners, we identified the advanced technology created by Professor David Haddleton, the founder of two other companies within our portfolio, at a crucial stage of development.”

“Mercia has worked closely with the Medherant team and the relationship is an excellent example of our Complete Capital Solution helping to develop UK companies and ultimately deliver shareholder value to our shareholders. We look forward to supporting Medherant as they move into the clinical trial phase,” he added.